The invention relates to an ornamental cover for an operating element such as a clothing button arranged on a shirt or blouse cuff or an ornamental element wherein the ornamental cover is adapted to be mounted and demounted on the operating element.
It is well known to have conventional ornamental buttons for shirt or blouse cuffs which comprise a plate-like top portion with a bottom thereof. The bottom has secured thereto a central stem portion with a free end having a two-armed lever which is pivotally mounted to an axle extending parallel to said top portion and being secured to said central portion and being designed as a stud or the like. Ornamental cuff links of the above type are adapted to be used with shirts or blouses having cuffs with end portions being formed with button holes. Long-sleeve shirts and blouses normally have cuffs with one end portion being formed with a button hole and the other end portion having a button. Therefore, the conventional ornamental cuff links cannot be used with such shirts and blouses.
A cover for ornamenting conventional shirt cuff links or clothing buttons is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,230. Here the cover comprises a first plate and a second plate which is formed as a fork and which is opposite to the bottom of said first plate. For the purpose of simplification the fork plate will be referred to only as a fork. The button is clamped between the plate and the fork. The bottom of the plate and the top of the fork that faces the bottom of the plate thus each provide one clamping surface for the button. As illustrated therein, the fork is in all dimensions narrower and shorter than the plate and over a certain extent of its breadth, it is integrally formed with the plate by means of a frame which is greater than the above-mentioned forked portion and which extends vertically downward from the edge of the plate. The fork is inclined with respect to the plate in such a manner that a free fork end is in closer proximity to the plate than the other fork end. Accordingly, the fork and the plate must be allowed to bend from each other prior to the mounting on the button. Therefore, the variety of materials for the cover is limited to elastic materials, unless an early breakage of the relatively narrow abutting area of fork and plate or frame is accepted. However, many materials for ornamental elements such as platinum allows and ornamental stones are brittle or rigid. Consequently, it is not possible to manufacture the described cover from merely these materials. At best these materials may be coated on the cover, but this method is intricate and does not comply with the demand for quality of many persons. In addition, in the cover according to U.S. Pat. No. 3,343,230, the fork is shorter than the plate, and thus the fork cannot be easily operated to detach the cover from the button.
Considering the above prior art it is the object of the invention to provide a cover of the aforementioned general type which may be manufactured of any material, has a long service life, and which is easy to handle and as versatile as possible.
This object is attained by a cover which is formed with a receiving portion for the operating element which has at least two points facing each other to define two facing clamping surfaces for the operating element and wherein a distance between the at least two clamping surfaces decreases at least partially along a mounting direction of the cover. As the distance between the clamping surfaces decreases along the mounting direction (it is not the smallest at the beginning of the cover), the cover may thus be mounted on buttons of various shape. The clamping surfaces need not permit elastic bending with respect to each other. Consequently they may extend rigidly with respect to each other. This means that they need not be linked to each other by means of a film link or the like, but may be rigidly connected with each other along whole edges, for example from castings or elements carved out of stone or wood. Accordingly, the clamping surfaces of the cover may have a great thickness which gives the cover rigidity. If the two clamping pieces consist of different materials, than their hold can be obtained by a plastical deformation of the one of those pieces which is softer than the other. With uniform materials, clamping can occur by tilting one of the two pieces with respect to the other. Both with elastic and with rigid piece parts it is possible to have two clamping surfaces. One or both of these clamping surfaces may be inclined with respect to an imaginary plane extending in a longitudinal direction through the cover. If only one clamping surface is inclined and an operating element or ornamental element is used which has at least one flat side which is free to a great extent (as in the case of a conventional cuff link) the cover may be very safely held in place on the element. This is true because with the elements non-inclined surface, the cover can contact the whole flat surface of the element, that is it will contact the element over a large area. In case of an element having a substantially rectangular cross-section (such as a conventional cuff link), the inclined clamping surface can act on the rear upper button edge along the mounting direction. Where a calotte-shaped button is used, the clamping surface could act on the peak thereof. If both clamping surfaces are inclined and the element has a rectangular cross-section, clamping can be effected on the rear edges of the element along the mounting direction. For all these variations retention of the cover is obtained by having the clamping surface extend lengthwise and breadthwise of the cover.
Furthermore, it is possible to provide, either in addition to or instead of the clamping surfaces extending lengthwise and widthwise, two clamping surfaces which extend in the direction of height of the cover. Either only one, or both of these clamping surfaces may be inclined with respect to an imaginary plane extending through the cover in the direction of height thereof. It is also possible to provide several pairs of clamping surfaces extending in the direction of height such as at a long and at a broad side of a quadrangular cover. When mounting the cover from above, the cover must be open at its bottom. The cover can be safely held on the element if lengthwise and widthwise clamping surfaces are provided in combination with clamping surfaces extending heightwise. In this case the cover must have a front opening or be adapted to be opened in front.
Such an opening can be provided where the cover comprises a top plate and a base plate facing said top plate and connected therewith by an opening, or adapted to be opened, at a base section which forms the beginning of the cover along the mounting direction. The base plate can include an aperture extending from the beginning base section of the cover along the mounting direction.
In the case of an element having a rectangular cross-section, clamping may be effected on the rear edges of the element along the mounting direction. For an element having a circular or oval contour (such as a conventional cuff link), it is proposed to provide clamping at two points on the element which are at least approximately opposed diametrically and with clamping surfaces extending in the direction of height.
As indicated above, clamping surfaces that extend lengthwise, widthwise and heightwise are utilized in the cover and if the inside cover walls that provide the clamping surfaces have outer surfaces which extend in parallel relationship to the clamping surfaces, the outer surfaces of the clamping surfaces and the cover walls could have parallel surfaces. Here the whole cover could be manufactured from one or several metal sheets that may be bent. In this case, the cover may have a shape which includes cants and edges or ears which are arched over. This can ensure that the cover is safely held in place on the element and allows for the cover to have an advantageous unusual styling.
The cover may have an outer shape which differs from the shape and position of the clamping surfaces. It is also possible to provide (either in addition to or instead of the above-specified clamping surfaces) clamping surfaces extending in the direction of height of the cover wherein the distance between said clamping surfaces are at least partially smaller than the external dimension of one or several holding element(s) for the operating element. In the case of a button held by threads, the clamping surfaces can interact with the threads. In the case of a pass-through button with a base shaft, the clamping surfaces can interact with a base shaft portion of the button.
A cover in which the clamping surfaces extend heightwise and with a smaller distance therebetween than the holding element of the button, can be held in place at the holding element and thus at the operating or ornamental element in a strikingly simple manner. The cover need only include a one-wall element such as a plate which includes a slot-like aperture which does not cover the overall length of the plate and which aperture itself provides the clamping surfaces by means of its limiting walls extending in longitudinal direction. The element may also be pan-shaped or otherwise open on top. With the first-mentioned embodiment, the bottom of operating or ornamental elements may be covered and with the second embodiment the bottom and the side surfaces can be covered. In both cases the operating or ornamental element is optically set off. However, the cover may also be formed as a hollow element which is closed to a great extent and has an aperture that extends along a base plate.
When clamping surfaces extending in the direction of height of the cover and wherein the distance between said clamping surfaces are at least partially smaller than the external dimension of one or several holding element(s) are provided, their clamping surfaces may extend in parallel relationship to each other in order to safely hold the cover at the holding element(s). But if the distance between the surfaces decrease, the cover can still be safely held at the holding element(s). Furthermore, one of the clamping surfaces may be provided by the cover itself by elements which are disposed at (or in) the cover. In order to provide a specific shape of the cover with respect to the operating or ornamental element, one can provide that the clamping surface extend diagonally with respect to the cover.
The shape of a clamping surface in accordance with the invention may be structurally defined in an advantageous manner in that at least one clamping surface extends at an angle, which opens along the mounting direction of the cover by approximately 5 to 30 degrees as defined by an imaginary line which extends in longitudinal mounting direction of the cover and which represents a side of a right triangle when the clamping surface is the hypotenuse. The clamping surface may extend in a single plane, that is, it may be flat. In another variation the clamping surface may include corrugations or serrations. A clamping surface that varies heightwise may also be further developed in this manner. In the last-mentioned variations, the clamping surface need not necessarily extend at an angle to a line which extends in longitudinal direction through the cover. The projecting curvatures of the corrugations (or the points of the serrations) effect the decreasing distance between the clamping surfaces along the mounting direction when crests and troughs are arranged so as to not face each other. Thus it is possible to attain a holding function. In both cases the crests and troughs need not necessarily have the same dimension along the longitudinal direction of the cover. The same applies to serrations of course. Particularly for embodiments with corrugations and serrations, it is possible to manufacture the clamping surfaces or clamping walls of elastic material. If they were manufactured of hard material such as steel or a jewel, one would include the risk of damaging the operating or ornamental element and/or its holding element(s). The clamping surfaces may each be provided by at least one element disposed at (or in) the cover. Here the element may be a leaf spring. It may also be a block of an elastic material such as rubber or synthetic material. For clamping surfaces that vary in height, bars of elastic material may be used.
Where the cover comprises a top plate and a base plate, facing said top plate and connected therewith by an opening or a cover adapted to be opened at a base section which forms the beginning of the cover along the mounting direction. The base plate can include an aperture extending from the beginning base section of the cover along the mounting direction, then the aperture permits the holding element for the operating or ornamental element to pass through the bottom of the cover to secure the button to another element. In the case of a clothing button, the thread can pass through the cover to secure the button to the article of clothing. If the aperture is designed with clamping surfaces extending in the direction of height of the cover and wherein the distance between said clamping surfaces are at least partially smaller than the external dimension of one or several holding element(s) for the operating element, a holding function can be obtained. If the aperture extends over the approximate total length of the cover, here the above-proposed clamping function will be possible in the rear area of the operating or ornamental element.
To prevent an undesired loss of the cover and/or for stylistic reasons, a flap can be provided to close a base opening that accommodates sliding of the cover over the operating element. Manufacturing of the cover by extruding, deep-drawing, bending or casting can occur when it includes cants, edges and/or areas which are arched outwards.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.